Price-card holder



Oct; 18, 1927.

A. AQUILA Parcs cnn-HOLDER Filed Nov. 12. 192s Patented Oct. 18, 19.27.

kUNITED STATES PArEN'rA OFFICE;

ANTHONY AQUILA, OF ISELIN, JERSEY.

v PRICE-GARD -I-IOLDER.

Application led November 12, 1926.

This invention relates to price card hold-` ers and more particularlyrefers to'devices for displaying price cards adapted to be attached to the edge of a shelf for indicating the price of articles arranged upon said shelf.

The primary object of this invention is to' provide a. price card holder of anovel and improved construction, adapted to be readily attached to or detached from shelvesof different thicknesses. 1 Y v Another robject of the. invention is to provide a price card holder having adjustable means for clamping it onto-the edge of a shelf, said means being readily adjustable to correspond to the thickness of the shelf on which the device is to be used.

A further, object is to provide -aprice card Y holder so constructed that price cards may be readily inserted into and removed there-v from without the necessity of bending or otherwise distorting the same.

A'still further object is to provide a price card holder having. adjustable attaching means permitting the same to be clamped onto a shelf or else'permittiiig the same to be attached onto the Ifacefof said shelf, or else onto the face'of a case 'or counter.

A still'further object is vto provide a d'evice of the character specified provided with adjustable clamping means also adapted for use as a lsupport or veasel for the device, pei'- mit-ting the same to be placed upon a counter atthe lproper angle for effectively displaying the indicationscarried by said device.

Still another object is to providea price card holder combining :a simple and inex` pensive construction with an effective .dis-- play ofthe indications printed upon .the

cards inserted'therein, each figure showingserial No. 147,929.

Fig. 8 isa side view in elevation ofthe same;

f Fig. t is `a side sectional view in elevation through line 1---4- of Fig. 1, showing the de-,I

vice clamped` onto thel edge of a shelf;

Fig. 5 is a plan sectional view in elevation through line 5,-5 ofvFig. l;

Fig. l6 is a rear view inelevationof .the

same;

Fig. device showing thesame applied onto avshelf,

capacity of thedevic'e;

Fig. 8 is aside view in elevation ofthev device illustrating the saine placed `,upon a counter in an inclined position;

7 is a side view in elevationof the.

loo

mi the thickness of which exceeds theclainping Fig.y 9 is a front view in velevation ofthe set of cards used in t-he arrangementof Fig. 1;,aiid c i 1 Fig. l0cillustrates an alternative'typeiof sectional card which may he usedto provide indications supplementary to the figures indicating thesprice proper. f v I My device comprises, essentially, a body or card holding portion, and means zcarried thereby for attaching or supporting, ,the device in position, these means being pref-v` erably of an adjustablenature.- The cardy holding portion comprisesa front plate 1l and a rea-r vplate 12,forined-from' afsingle piece of sheet metal, bent to forma` loop at the lower end as shownat 13, leaving an'openv slot 14 atvthe upper endl through which` a price card or a ypluralitytoflprice cards 15 may be inserted'. .Said kcard orfcards may Vhear any suitablelindication Ysuch as for, in- 90 stance, price indications which are positioned:

so as toregister and show through openings` such as 16,17, 18, 19,"provided in thev front;v

plate.

Said fopenings may havedesired orsuitable outline .and practically constitute l' frames through' which the various figures or other indications may show` through: In..

of the underlying card, and this provides an this manner said figures o r indications, may. .be effectivelyl displayed, due to the, contrast between the colorof the plate 'and the color ornamentalfeatureof great practical value. f

The `two side edges l,of the front plate, `or portions thereof, are bent rearwardly and' then inwardly, formingtwo flanges 20,521,

retaining the two plates in their proper ,rela-j` -tive ypositionI I In order to secure the device onto the edge of a shelf as shown in Fig. 4, the same may Vbe provided with two spaced rearwardly pro- `or outwardly to suit small variations in the thickness' of the' shelf. However, in order to produce a device adapted for universal use, I preferfto'malre one of the said clamping flanges adjustabley so that the distance bevtween said two flanges may be increased or ldecreased at will.

Accordingly, I make the upper' clamping pla-te 22 stationary by forming it directly with the rear plate, rearwardly bending the upper part of said plate at 24. Said clamping flangeV is preferably formed with a lon-- gi-tndinal bead or depression 25 embossed therefrom so as to project inwardly providing va better clamping contact with the sur c face ofthe shelf.

The lower clamping flange 23 is made ad- Y justable to and from" the stationary flange and consists ofa piece of resilient sheet metal bent at right anglewto form a horizontalpor- ,tion constituting the clamping flange proper 23, and a vertical holding portion 26 having two side projecting lugs 27, 28, inserted between the rearfsurfacel of the rear `plate l2', and the inner surface of side flanges 20, 2l.

To thisv end, said sideflanges 20', 21, are

"spaced from the rear plate to provide af slotted passage' of sufficient width to accom-` modate the thickness of part 26.

Said part 26 is retained in position by the Y spring action of the rear plate against the inner surface of'llanges 20, 21. The ten'` dency of rear plate 12' is naturally to spread outwardly towards flanges 20, 21, and there#V fore due to this tendencypart 26 will be ser' curely heldin position, by said rear plate.

In order to cha-nge the position of the lower clamping flange, the rear plate is pressed inwardly, that is, away from flanges 20', 21, before insert-ing the price cards inposition within the card holding chamber 29. This releases the side lugs 27, 28 on part 26 and permits ffree movement of said lower clampingflange to' a different position. The rear plate is then released, andthe lower clamping"v flange is once more clamped inv position, ready for, use. Y i

In Vorder to improve the resiliency of the rear plate, I prefer to extend the loop 13 somewhat to the' rear as shown at 30. so as to increase the radius thereof, and thereby Y i improve its' spring action.

.After adjusting'lthe position of the lower clamping flange,` the cards may be placed in position by inserting them through upper slot 24 and forcing them downwardly through chamber 29 until they rest upon the lower end of said chamber, that its, upon loop portion 13.

By thus inserting the cards in position the clearance space between the front and the rear plate becomes filled so that it is no longer possible to press the rear plate against the front plate in order to release the lower clamping flange for adjustment purposes; therefore, the insertion of the cards acts to a certain extent in assisting the clamping actro'n of the rear plate by tending to force it outward-ly; or at least by preventing its possi-bility of inward displacement.

The card or cards may 'be easily removed by pressing against them with the thumb through the openings provided in the'front plate, and causing the cards to slide the upper end through slot 14.

However, it is possible in this manner to so1l or deface the cards, and therefore, I prefer to cut notches such as 30, 31, 32 through the lower part of the rear plate, eX- posing the lower edge 33 of the 'card or cards. In this manner it becomes possible to engage the edge ofthe card or cards with the thumb nail and to force' the card or cards upwardly until they project sulficiently out of slot 14, to permit of their being pulled outfroni the other end.

The lower clamping flange is' alsov preferably provided withan inwardly' directed longitudinal bead or depression 34 to improve the clamping contact against the lower surface of the shelf. I

In some cases, it is not possible to clamp out at lll? use in such instances, I provide the holding Y,

part 26 of the lower clamping flange with line rearwardly projecting points 35,V 36, adapted to be forced through the shelfor case onto which the device is placed. By

virtue of this arrangement the devicemayfV be supported 1n" position in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7, where the lower surface of i' the lower clamping flange 23 abuts against the upper surface of the shelf or case and the rear surface of the card holder proper abuts against the front surface of said shelf or case, points 35, 36 having' been forced through said front surface in the manner indicated, c

The device is also adapted for use on a counter, using the lower clamping flange as a rear support therefor. In this case, said lower lclamping flange is moved all the way towardsthe lower end of the card holder proper, andthe device is then placedonthe counter by resting the lower edge ofthe ticket holder proper and thefrear edge of lgreat flexibility, instead of using a single f price card` I prefer to form various combinations by using unitary cards, the size yof said cards being such thatthey will fit chamber 29 in the holder when arranged in the proper combination. l

For instance, in the arrangement illustrated, where the front plate is provided with two main adjoining openingsl, 17, and two superimposed smaller openings 18,

L19, at one end, I use two main adjoining cards 37, 88, each one carrying one of the numbers from O to 9. positioned so as to show centrally of openings 16, 17,1 when the twoA cards yare placed adjoining one another, towards the left of the idevice; furthermore, I use a third card 39 bearing two superimposed indications, one such as c or Stor Per or For or one of the numerals from 01 to 99 to indicate c, etc., positioned so that they will show through the upper opening 18, and lower indications such as Lb., Doz., Two, etc., adapted' to register with the lower opening 19; the three cards together arranged so as to abut edgewise against one another as shown in Fig. 9 will just flt the space within chamber 29 and the various indications will show through the front openings as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to further increase the flexibility of the system instead of using a single narrow card 39, for the two fractional or smaller indications, I prefer to use two separate cards such as 40, 41, having the same width as cord 39, but shorter` so that their combined length or height will correspond to that of card 39. Each one lof these two smaller cards will bear a single indication, so that all possible combinations may be obtained by using a relatively limited number of unitary cards.

Said cards however, are preferably printed on both sides in order to increase their usefulness and in order to further decrease the total number of cards needed in order to form all the desired' combinations.

From the foregoing it is seen that I provide a device of a relatively simple construction, adapted to be used for a number of purposes and providing an attractive and effective means for displaying prices and other indications.

While the drawings represent. the Apre-v4 ferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that minor changes may be'introduced inthe construction of the device without deyparting from the .inventive idea; therefore,

the drawings are to be considered as being iiitend-ed for illustrative purposes only and 'i not in a limiting sense. lAccordingly, Ifreserve myself the right to carry my invention into practice lin any way or manner which pended claims.

I claim: 1. In a card holder of the character fied, a card holding body formed from 'fa piece of sheet metal bent to form a backing A.member and a front vmember spaced therefrom', lsaid two members tending to move away from each other and forming an open end card receiving chamber., one of said rear direction and then'inwardly tor-etain k may enter fairly into the scope of the api specimembers having portions of its edges trans-V versal to said open end bent in 'a front tothe other member in position, and a sup-l porting member frictionally held between `said inwardly bent edge portions and the member retained thereby, due to the outward' pressure exerted by said "retained member.

2. In a card holder of the character speci-v fied, a fcard holding body yformed from a piece 'of sheet: metal bent'torform a backing` member and a front member spaced therefrom, said two members tending to move away from each other and forming an open end card receiving chamber, one of said members having portio-ns of its edges transversal to said open end bent in a front to rear direction and then inwardly to retain the other Vmember in position, said front member being provided with openings through which indications carried by cards inserted within said chamber may be displayed, and an adjustable supporting member frictionally held between said inwardly bent edge portions and the member retained thereby, due to the outward pressure exerted by said retained member.

3. In a cardholder of the character specitied, a card holding body formed from a piece of sheet metal bent to form a backing member and a front member spaced "therefrom, said two members tending to move away from each other and forming an open end card receiving chamber, said front member being provided with openings through which indications carried by cards inserted within said chamber may be display-ed and having portions of its edges transversal to said open end, bent rearwardly and then inwardly to form retaining flanges, and a supporting member frictionally held between said flanges and said backing member, due to the outward pressure exerted by said backing member.

4. In a card holder of the character speciuname-io f fied, the combination ofV a card holding body formed from a piece of' sheet metal bent to form a backing member and front member spaced therefrom, said two members tending to move awa from each other and forming an open en card receiving cham-- ber, one of said members having portions orV its edges transversal to said open end bent in e. front to rear direction andithen inwardly to retain the other member in position, and two clamping members therefor, rearwardly projecting from said backing member, one of said clamping members being-fricti-onally held between said inwardly bent edge portions and the member retained thereby, due to the outward pressure exerted by said retained member.

5. In a card holder of thecharacter specified, a cardpholding bodyy formed from a piece of sheet metal bent to form a backing member anda front vmember spaced therefrom, the two forming an open end card receiving chambenone or"V said members having portions of its: edges transversal to said fopen end bent in a front to rear direction and then inwardly to. form retaining flanges, said front member being provided with openings through which indications carried by cards inserted within said chamber may be displayed,a stationary clamping member rearwardly extending `from said backing member, and an adjustable clamping mem-- ber inserted between said flanges and the rear surface of said backing member, frictionally held in position by the spring action of said bac-king member against said fianges. u

6. In a card holder of the character specified, a card holding body formed from a piece of sheet metal bent to J'orm a. backing member and a front member spaced thereirom, the two forming an open end card relceiving chamber, o-ne of said members having portions 'of its edges transversal to said cpen end bent in a front to rear direction and then inwardly to form retaining ilanges, said front memberv being provided with openings through which indications carried by cards inserted within said chamber may be displayed, astationary clamping member rearwardly extending from said backing member, an adiustable clamping member inserted between said flanges and the rear surface of said backing member, frictionally held in position by the spring action of said backing member against said flanges, and notches cut through the edge of said backing member at the end `of the chamber opposite said open end to permit said cards being forced out throughv said open end.

ANTHONY AQUILA. 

